Bleach: Tatsuki X Ichigo
Chapter 5

*Author's Note: Sorry for the long silence, my beloved readers. Been very busy moving back to America after three long years away. I am currently working on updates for all of my stories, so if you're bored and waiting for the next chapter of this story, just know that there are plenty of other stories by me to go through in the mean time. I'm hoping now that my schedule is somewhat more predictable, I'll be able to keep up with my stories better. I hope that you will all forgive me and I hope that my stories are not disappointing any of you. I am trying to keep these stories as good as possible as practice for my original works that I am doing now. Also, I am rereading my stories to try to maintain consistency so please forgive me for my super-slow process.

Tatsuki slowly approached the Kurosaki household, uncertain of what to say. She was nervous he might hate her now, and she couldn't blame him. Everyone had so easily adopted Tsukishima into their memories without a second thought, even her, his oldest friend. She looked at the front door, uncertain of if she should knock or not. She felt her chest tighten slightly as she lifted her hand, reaching tentatively forward.

"Hey Tatsuki," Yuzu said, excitedly, as she ran up to the other girl from, what appeared to be, a grocery run. "What's up?"

"Oh... Uh, hey Yuzu," she said, smiling at the younger girl. "I just thought I'd come check on Ichigo... You know, see how he's doing..."

Yuzu met her eyes and smiled.

"Why don't you come on in and see him?" she suggested, using her free hand to grab Tatsuki's wrist and pull her into the house before she could resist.

As the two entered the house, they kicked off their shoes and Yuzu gently placed the cloth bags on the table before leaning her head from the kitchen and drawing in a big breath before shouting up the stairs.

"Ichigo! You have a visitor!" she yelled, turning to smile at Tatsuki.

Silence.

No reply or movement came from the upstairs bedroom as the two stood in the kitchen. Tatsuki's heart dropped as she helped the younger girl take the groceries out of the bag.

"Don't worry too much about it," Yuzu said, smiling as she set a hand on Tatsuki's. "I bet he's out chasing down hollows or something. He'll be back before dinner."

Tatsuki smiled at her and continued helping with removing the groceries from the bags until there were no more to be put away.

"Well," she said, smiling at the younger girl and turning towards the door. "I should probably get going. Need to go make din-"

Before she could finish, Yuzu caught the older girl by the hand and their eyes met.

"Why don't you stay here and have dinner with us?" Yuzu suggested. "I could really use some help peeling and cutting the potatoes for curry."

Tatsuki smiled warmly at her, knowing she didn't need the help, but thankful for the offer.

"If you're sure I won't be imposing," she answered, stepping up beside the girl. She noted how tall Yuzu was now and how much she'd grown.

The two began preparing ingredients for curry.

As they cooked, Tatsuki found her eyes drifting towards the stairs or losing focus. She was glad when her work cutting potatoes had ended but, now, Yuzu needed no further help and she found herself sitting in the den, silently staring at the stairs again, hoping for him to come down soon. She felt her heart flutter slightly as she peaked into the kitchen, noting how engrossed in her work Yuzu was, before she made her way, silently, up the stairs to the door with the number 15 on a hanging sign on the door. She softly knocked, with no response. She felt her heart racing as she reached for the handle, twisting it slowly, silently.

She opened the door just as quietly and stepped into the room, noticing Ichigo's sleeping form lying on the bed. She could tell he wasn't just sleeping by the lack of breathing, reasoning that he must be out stretching his legs as a soul-reaper. She walked into the room and quickly rolled his chair next to the bed, sitting in it and watching him, thinking about all the things that had happened to him in the last two or so years of his life. She remembered all the stories about his battles and, even, seeing surveillance footage of the battles from some of Hat N'Clogs' remote cameras he'd set up to monitor Ichigo's progress.

She looked down at the tall orange-haired boy, thinking about how much of a crybaby he once was and how much he used to annoy her. She smiled, remembering the way he used to smile and laugh whenever he saw his mother after a long day of crying and being beaten by Tatsuki.

She reached a hand out and ran her fingers through his soft, yet spiky hair.

"Um..." a voice came from behind her, causing her to jump out of the chair and stand bolt up-right before turning to see Ichigo in his soul-reaper form standing behind her. "What're you doing here, Tatsuki? And what were you doing there... just now?"

"I wasn't doing anything you idiot!" she yelled, feeling her cheeks flush slightly. "What the hell took you so long, anyway?!"

"There was a pretty tough hollow," he said, absent-mindedly, still too thrown off by what he'd seen to really know what to say. "Why are you in my room?"

"I wanted to make sure you weren't ignoring me," she answered, turning her back to him. "Now that I know, I'll just be going to finish making dinner."

With that, she brushed past his shinigami form and walked out the door, leaving Ichigo with a confused eyebrow raise as she left him to return to his body.

Once he'd returned to his human body, he walked downstairs to find Yuzu and Tatsuki finishing dinner and setting the table. He saw the door open and watched Karin walk into the room and a smile burst on her face as she saw Tatsuki. Isshin followed and made a commotion about her being there and how she'd grown into such a beautiful young woman.

He smiled as he watched them, standing near the entrance to the living room from the kitchen.

"Ichi-ni!" Yuzu yelled over her shoulder, not noticing her brother was downstairs yet.

"Yeah?" he shouted back, causing her to jump a little and look back at him with her cheeks puffed out indignantly.

"Dinner's ready," she said, slightly annoyed and looking back at her work. "Don't make the guest set the table alone."

He laughed softly as he stepped up to the cupboard and grabbed some dishes to help set the table.

********BLEACH**********

The night air was slightly brisk as the two walked back to her apartment, silence pervading the air between them. Ichigo looked at the stars with his hands on the back of his head as Tatsuki's eyes looked down at the ground. She briefly glanced up at him before looking back towards the ground.

"Shit!" he said, suddenly, causing her to snap her head up and look around for some sign of a hollow or something.

"What?!" she yelled, still looking around, to which he laughed. She looked at him with a confused frown. "What is it?"

"I totally forgot to grab the leftover curry Yuzu wanted me to give you," he laughed.

Tatsuki's frown deepened as she walked up to him, punching him hard in the arm.

"Hey!" he shouted, indignantly, as he rubbed the sore spot. "I didn't mean to freak you out!"

"Yeah, whatever," she said, continuing her walk home. "You can just bring it to school tomorrow anyway."

"That's true," he said, nodding. "But why did you want me to walk you home?"

"Is it wrong to want to walk home with your childhood best friend?" she asked, looking into his eyes as they walked.

"No it's just-"

"If you'd rather go home, no one's stopping you," she said, giving a final 'Hmph'.

"Jeez," he said, under his breath while shaking his head.

The two continued walking until they reached her apartment. Once there, she stopped and stood silently outside her door.

"Well," he said, turning to begin his walk home.

"Ichigo?" came Tatsuki's voice as his back faced her. He turned to see her beautiful eyes locked onto him, and they appeared to have tears building in them.

"Whoa.. Uh.. What's wrong?" he asked, looking at her worriedly.

She couldn't quite find the words as she faced him, her heart breaking.

'Have you forgiven me?' she thought. 'Why have you been so nice to me today?! I betrayed you... We all did!'

Her words failed her and all she could manage was a strangled whimper as tears started rolling down her face. Ichigo responded by closing the distance and catching her in his arms, leaving a gap between them so he could look into her eyes.

"What's going on?" he asked as he felt her shaking with silent sobs in his arms.

"How?" she managed, before she bit back more sobs.

"What?" he asked, genuinely confused.

She gathered her composure and looked straight into his amberish-brown eyes. She took a deep breath and spoke clearly and concisely as she could manage, biting back sobs as she went.

"How can you act so kindly to me?" she asked, confusing him even more.

"You're my friend, Tatsuki," he said, shaking his head as he looked into her eyes. "Why would I not be kind to you?"

"Ichigo..." she said, dangerously, looking sternly at him. "We all betrayed you... All of us..."

Ichigo's eyes widened slightly as he realized what she was talking about. He pulled her slightly closer and held her head to his chest, letting her listen to his beating heart.

"Tatsuki," he said, calmly, stroking her head as he held her. "None of that was your fault or anyone else's. You were all manipulated by Tsukishima's power."

"But we betr-" she was cut off as he pulled her into his arms again.

"No," he said, firmly. "It wasn't your fault."

Tears welled up in her eyes as he held her and he felt her arms, which had limply fallen to her sides through most of it, wrap themselves around him, her hands taking hold of his shirt, tightly, and pulling him even closer. He felt a pair of damp spots forming on his shirt where her tears soaked into the fabric and he rested his cheek on her head.

The two remained like that for a few minutes before Tatsuki managed to gather her composure and wiped her eyes. She looked up into his eyes and he smiled.

"Feel better?" he asked, to which she nodded. "Alright. Have a good night, okay?"

"Text me when you get home," she said, wanting to hug him again but not being sure of it. Before she could even ask, he'd taken a step forward and wrapped his arms around her.

"I will," he whispered as he held her. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

As they parted, Tatsuki put a hand to her chest, feeling the frantic pace of her heart's beating. She took a deep breath and tried to gather her composure as she found her keys and entered the home.